Name of Commissioner: Ger / chou-wa comissions / cachalot on cosplay.comWebsite/C.com gallery:http://seventhmoon.org/cosplay/Character commissioned and series/video game (please include if this was the entire costume, just a jacket, prop, accessory, wig, etc.): Prop, Dead Fantasy Rinoa Heartilly's gunblade Vanishing Star Links to picture(s) of your commissioned item:http://gerodere.deviantart.com/#/d2sgo79
(Sorry my camera is broken at the moment.) Timeline (how long your order took to process): E-mailed her my commission request on April 4 and received the prop July 1. Describe your Experience. Pros, Cons, Comments. I met her at Anime Boston with her booth at the Artist Alley and immediately fell in love with her works when I flipped through pictures of them. A few days later, I contacted her with my commission request about the gunblade I wanted her to make and she drew up a contract that we both had to sign stating the terms, conditions, etc. This was my first commission so her drawing up a contract really impressed me: it told me that she was serious about my request.

She was able to split the payment up in installments which made it MUCH easier for me. She responded to her e-mails VERY fast -- sometimes the same day or a day later. Communicating with her was great -- she seemed really really nice in her e-mails! She even showed me progress pictures in her Flickr, which made me excited every time I see a new picture of my gunblade. She's a really nice girl when I met up with her in person to pick up my gunblade and pay her the rest of the payment since we live close to each other. When I picked it up, I was SO happy! It looked just like Montyoum's design! So detailed and everything! I really died in the inside when I saw it in person. No, seriously. Overall, I had a REALLY great experience working with her! I LOVED IT!

Pros: Great communication, fast responses, flexible, nice, AMAZING work and details on the prop -- looks just like the original!

Cons: None at all!

Final Grade: A+ I DEFINITELY recommend her if you need any props made! I had an amazing experience and she's definitely my soul prop commissioner if I need any prop made!

Name of Commissioner:ifunplay on ebayWebsite/C.com gallery:http://myworld.ebay.com/ifunplay/Character commissioned and series/video game: Pink wig with 2 curly twintails.Links to picture(s) of your commissioned item:http://fav.me/d2t7vf5 Wooo, collage <3Timeline : 7 days exact ^^Describe your Experience. :If anyone could sweat more for a wig to arrive I'd like to see it. I needed this for my Anya cosplay at CTcon which is in a week. They got it here with time to spare!Pros:EEEEEEEE! This wig is beyond soft!
The price for this type of wig usually goes between 40-60 bucks but I got it for under 35! No sale or anything.
The shipping was like The Flash personally delivered it. One week exact when they estimated between 10-28 days. The con was 2 weeks from when I ordered it!
It's really scary ordering from un-popular/lower mentioned ebay sellers, and I was a skeptic of the 100% ratings but, man... they deserve it! D:

Cons: There is no such thing D: Though...I wish they had more of a selection.Final Grade:A+
I couldn't ask for moar! ;A;

General: Although I had seen the Arda Wigs website before and heard good reviews about them, I wanted to be able to see the wigs in person first before making a purchase. Luckily, they had a booth set up at Anime Expo where they had color rings on the table and wigs available for purchase. The Magnum and Jaguar were the two that I bought, and I was happy to find that both were exactly as described on the website.

Pros: First of all, they're not kidding when they say that their wigs are spacious. As strange as it may sound, this is my favorite part about both wigs; I've worn a really tight wig before and hated it, so having wigs that are nice and roomy despite the fact that I have a ton of hair is really nice. Second favorite would have to be the thickness of both, and the resulting versatility potential when restyling. Another bonus is that some of their wigs (these two included) are available in heat resistant fiber, which I found to be quite durable after experimentation. Even some... uh, rough combing didn't damage them much, if at all.

Cons: Hardly any. I accidentally yanked a bit of hair loose when combing, but that was mostly my fault. The heat resistant fiber isn't the softest or shiniest in the world, but it's a trade off for durability and versatility. The fiber has a slight tendency to tangle and stick a bit more than the kanekalon wigs I've dealt with, but since the wigs are short it's a relatively small problem and most tangles can be removed easily with light finger combing.

Additional Info:Here I went more into detail about my experiments with lightly styling and restyling the wigs, as well as the color info.

Final Grade: A+
Consider me a returning customer already! The information on the website that Arda provides about their wigs is helpful and most importantly, honest. Both wigs were very reasonably priced; whether it was budget, thickness, versatility, or comfort, the way that Arda accommodates the needs and problems of cosplayers with the wigs they provide is... well, excellent. If you do your research and know what you're getting into when buying a heat resistant wig (something that their info makes much easier), then I'd readily recommend this seller.

Timeline (how long your order took to process): Paid Feb 15, received March 20.

Describe your Experience: It started out simple enough, but what I noticed was that there was no communication until I messaged them to see where the wig was. They shipped it out after I messaged them. It took 9 days to get here. When it did, the wig was in a cellofane bag in a HUGE box, and packed with a few crumpled balls of heavy paper. The wig was falling apart already. It looked nothing like the picture in the listing. That one looked stable and well cared for. Mine looked like it was done in an afternoon.

I emailed them, telling them I wanted either a new wig in the next two weeks for a con on April 2nd, or a refund. They refused to make another one, and said that I could restyle it myself. Wait, didn't I pay YOU $120 to do that for me?? They acted like they were being good samaritans by accepting a return, since it was a "made to order" wig.

Then they wanted me to ship the wig back in a small priority flat rate box, and I told them that would crush the wig, and I didn't want them to pull a fast one on me. Their response? "You don't need to worry about the wig being crushed during the shipping. We will reshape the wig once we receive it. Styling wigs are our specialty." So they're even going to reuse it on the next poor schmuck. The lack of integrity just astounds me.
And I now believe someone else when they said they outsource to Hong Kong, considering the time it takes to receive the wig, the Chinese manager, and the lack of quality. The price is just jacked up.

They did refund me. Someone else has left feedback that they ordered the same wig and received it fine, but I really wonder about that. Wouldn't you try to defend your product if you really believe in it that much? I say stay away from them. There's no reason why this wig should have turned out as crappy as it did.

Final Grade:F (They don't get an F- because the wig, for the few days I had it, was soft and smelled nice :3)

Timeline (how long your order took to process): First contacted her on May 15th got my costume July 6th. The deadline was the end of July.

Describe your Experience.

Pros: The dress fits great. The material is good and I’m pleased the white is thick enough the black dress doesn’t show through the apron. She was always super quick to reply to my emails and put up with all of my paranoid questions. I emailed her the 22nd of June to ask the status of my commission and she informed me she’d have it done within the week. It was done the 28th.

Cons: Mostly it was her manner of writing that put me off. Her ad in the classifieds was written out well but her emails seem like a totally different person. Which at this point I’m almost hoping for as everyone else has had nothing but good to say about her!

I was especially confused when I received my costume in the mail. I wasn’t expecting it from China. “Ohhhhhhhhhhh, i forgot to tell you that i am currently residing in shanghai! Lollllllllll”

The way the dress was shipped resulted in a lot of wrinkles and various pieces sitting strangely. Nothing that can’t be fixed (hopefully).

The only real problem I have with the costume itself is that the dress fits perfectly but the apron is too big. I’ll just fix this with a few pins but it makes the velcro that holds it shut and snaps that keep the straps in place useless. I'm really hoping I'm able to take them off an move them to a better position myself.

Comments: Overall I am happy with the dress and will be wearing it to multiple conventions. I'll admit I'm a huge perfectionist when it comes to accuracy so I left those tiny points out of my review as they wouldn't really matter to other people. It's mostly just small discrepancies with the back of the apron and the sleeves. Nothing huge.

I’m a little disappointed that in my search for a commissioner here in the US I again ended up with another costume from China. Nothing against it but.. Obviously not my first choice.

I love the costume and it got here super fast but I may shop around some more before settling on her again. All in all the experience wasn't so bad that I'd never work with her again. She'll definitely be on my list of contacts the next time I am in need of a costume.

Final Grade: B

__________________

"You see a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad."

Name of Commissioner: Human Go (ebay)
Website/C.com gallery: http://myworld.ebay.com/human_go/
Character commissioned and series/video game: Canada (Axis Powers Hetalia) Just the Jacket
Links to picture(s) of your commissioned item: I haven't had the chance to take a good pic, but it looks exactly like the one on their ebay account.
Timeline (how long your order took to process): 2 to 3 weeks
Pros: Good communication, fast delivery, good quality garment. I was worried 'cause this was my first time commissioning, but I'm really pleased, it's exactly what I expected.
Cons: None that I can see.
Final Grade: A+

comments: I am really upset and sad how the costume turned out. There are many problems and mistakes with the costume.

The costume has many gaps, holes, the pockets on the chest are uneven, 1 is taller than the other.
Collar is unevenly sown, holes around the arm in the outside. 1 small hole and 1 big hole on the side of the collar
The right under arm area was randomly sown on making it very squishy and uncomfortable there also a hole there too
a little hole on the hat
size was big

Name of Commissioner - minako chan
Character commissioned and series/video game - Time Skip Yoko - Gurren Lagen (just the jacket)
Links to picture(s) of your commissioned item - I don't have any right now but I can take some later.
Timeline - About 4 days, I literally just got it today, not counting the time I had to wait for pay pal to clear my echeck. Which I think was 3 days.
Experience. Pros, Cons, Comments - All together it was a good experience, no cons other then some thing I already knew so I can only blame myself. I forgot to add that I just purchased this item from minako chan from the market place, I don't know if she made the jacket for her cosplay or if she had some one commission it for her. The jacket was very nicely made, it was only missing one minor detail on it, but other then that it was very, very, well made and looks very nice in person. Also the jacket was too small but I already knew this when I bought it. I was planning to take it to be tailored, basically it fits --
Final Grade: A+